In My Dreams
by Shannon9
Summary: Harry becomes obsessed with a mysterious girl. Is she real or just a dream?
1. Only a shadow?

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Authors Note: I don't own any of the characters from Harry Potter. This story started out as me rambling, but I've got some ideas. Thanks so much for reading and please let me know what you think! 

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Chapter One *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Shannon sat on the bench and watched. She always watched. She never actually joined in. They had stopped asking her. She didn't know why she couldn't join them. It was like some sort of wall between her and the rest. She was with them and yet separate, so separate. She felt so alone. She wished they'd see her. Really see her. But they never did. She was invisible. 

She didn't know he stood behind her. She didn't know he was the real watcher. He understood her. He knew her every habit. He loved her habits. He loved everything about her. But she didn't know. He wished she would pick up on it. He wished she sensed him, the way he could always sense her. He could walk into a room and sense her on the other side before he even saw her. No, he was the invisible one.

It made her sad to be invisible, to be so incredibly alone. She wanted so bad to be with them. She wished that just one person could see her. Then maybe joining them wouldn't seem so terrible. She was sick of it all. So sick of being depressed. So sick of being lonely. It had to stop. It just had to. Then the wall began to crumble…

Something was happening. He could see it. It was like something snapped. He watched as her head picked up. His heart began to race.

Her eyes darted back and forth. She could feel something. Something near her. What was it? She looked at the rest of them. Still invisible to them. So what was it? The feeling became more intense. It began to scare her. She stood up and turned. For the first time, they looked each other square in the eye.

His eyes were green and he had long hair. He was skinny and wore round glasses. She noticed the tail end of a scar on his forehead, peeking out from under a lock of hair.

He looked into those beautiful brown eyes. He saw her long silky brown hair wave in the wind. She raised her eyebrow slightly. He could feel her searching his face. She was actually seeing him.

"Who-" she began, quietly.

"Harry," he almost whispered. She squinted, trying to place him. She didn't recognize him, but she knew he was special. She knew he was the one. He really saw her. She turned toward the group again. She felt the same wall. She turned back to him, but he was gone. There was nothing but wind. She sat back down on the bench. The gray cloud crept back over her. There was nothing but wind.

Harry sat up straight. He'd fallen asleep again, and she'd been there. It wasn't the first time. He'd seen her so many times before. It was like she was real. She felt real. Whenever he slept, she was there. Her whole life. He felt the cold gray cloud creep over him again. It only left when she was there. But it was back now. There was nothing but another day to face.

Harry walked with Ron to their next class. He was silent. He hardly spoke at all anymore. When he did, it was always about her. It made Ron nervous. He thought Harry was losing it. Harry suddenly got the feeling. He stopped dead in his tracks. Ron didn't notice at first. He just kept walking, chattering to himself. Harry saw her, in a shadow, leaning against the wall, watching everyone pass by. 

"Ron," he breathed. She began to turn her head toward him. 

"What Harry?" Ron's voice startled him, and he quickly glanced at his friend's worried expression.

"She-" he started, but when he turned back she was gone. His heart sank, and he hung his head. Ron looked around, but he saw nothing unusual. He just shook his head and led Harry to the next class.

She had been standing in the shadow, watching her so called friends walk by, giggling about something. It was just part of her invisibility. But all of a sudden, she started to get a feeling. It was the same one she got when she was sitting on the bench. But the bench…that boy…it wasn't real. It couldn't be. She thought she saw him, in the corner of her eye. No, it was just another shadow. Nothing but a shadow.

When Harry and Ron arrived at Divination, Professor Trelawny met them at the door. The Professor gave Harry a knowing smile. Harry didn't notice; he kept his eyes on the floor. As he passed however, she caught him by the arm, whispering "She's waiting for you," in his ear. Harry quickly lifted his eyes to meet hers. Her expression had changed, become unreadable. She had already released his arm and was making a sweeping gesture, indicating that he was to take a seat. And once again the haze closed in. He slumped down in a near by chair, the sweet scent of the fire lulling him to sleep.

When he woke the room was empty. The sky outside looked dark. There was complete silence, one Harry was almost afraid to break. How long had he been sleeping? He supposed it didn't matter. She hadn't come to him this time. He remembered nothing at all of his dreams.

Slowly he rose, making his way back to the halls. It was strangely quiet here as well. Absolutely nothing but silence.

Shannon had excused herself from the room, that class they called music. Music! She laughed at the thought. Wasn't music supposed to pleasant? That wasn't music, that chaos in that room. It was one loud brash noise, beating into her brain. She escaped to the serene silence of the hall.

It was strange how quiet the halls were when class was in session. Almost no one ventured out during this sacred time. And those who did? They were like her; they sought the silence. She smiled to herself. As if there were other hall dwellers! Perhaps there were, but they were just like her-invisible, even to each other. And even as she thought this, she turned the corner, meeting a pair of familiar green eyes.

Harry had been wandering the halls, not knowing where he was going, only that he was going. He suddenly felt the urge, the need, to turn this next corner. And when he did, he found what he didn't know he'd been looking for. He found her.


	2. A little something to remember me by

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Authors Note: Any italics in this section are usually thoughts. Once again, thanks so much for reading and please review!

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Chapter 2 *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I-" Shannon began, finding she was unable to finish. _He's not real…he can't be._

"Am I dreaming?" Harry whispered, staring into those stunning brown eyes.

"I was wondering the same thing…" Shannon breathed.

Before he could stop himself, Harry reached out a hand, brushing her cheek as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You feel real to me," Shannon smiled.

Harry smiled back and glanced around the hall as he said, "Where were you headed?"

"Oh," Shannon said, suddenly forgetting. "No where really. I was just…wandering I guess."

Harry nodded, "Mind if I wander with you?" 

"Not at all," Shannon took the arm he held out. _Maybe we aren't so invisible after all._

The two wandered the halls, sometimes speaking, sometimes simply walking.

"That's a lovely necklace you're wearing," Harry remarked as he led her to a stone bench.

"Thank-you," Shannon fingered the silver locket thoughtfully. "My mother gave it to me." She took the necklace off, opened it, and then handed it to Harry. Inside Harry found a picture of a woman and a small child.

"That's me and my Mom, when I was three. We used to be really close," Shannon's eyes grew dark. She looked as if she might cry.

It was bad enough that no one noticed her here. But at home, at home she felt the same wall, the same lack of human contact. Even her mother seemed to stop paying attention to her. Shannon knew something had happened, something that brought this change on, but she couldn't remember. No, that's not right. She _wouldn't_ remember. She refused. She didn't want to think about it, didn't want to face it. 

Harry saw the cloud forming, the dams about to burst. He pulled her in close. He couldn't explain it. Yes, he'd wanted to comfort her, keep the tears from flowing, but there was something else. There was also some strange sense of urgency, the need to hold on for dear life. But why?

Shannon felt herself wrapped in his arms, safe and warm. But this was silly. Why should she cry to some…some stranger? But he didn't feel like a stranger. He felt like… like a friend she hadn't known she'd had. Close…maybe too close. How long had it been since someone had noticed her? How long since she felt this kind of companionship? How could this be real?

Too fast…she was almost used to the isolation. And now this…She closed her eyes as she willed herself to let go. She could feel his arms drop away. It was an odd feeling, almost as if _he_ was falling away. When she opened her eyes the bench was empty. She scanned the hallway quickly, but there was only silence. Nothing but silence.

Harry let her pull away, despite the urge to never let go. He closed his eyes, catching the scent of her perfume. He felt her take him by the arms, and then begin to shake him. Her voice changed, became deep, became that of Ron hissing "Harry, Harry wake up!". 

Harry opened his eyes. Professor Trelawny was smiling at him. Ron sighed and shook his head.

"A dream," Harry moaned. "Another dream. But, she was there. She saw me!"

"Honestly Harry," Ron groaned. "Give it up. The girl's not real,"

"She felt real…" Harry's eyes fell to floor. Then he noticed it, what was in his hand. He still held the necklace.

Shannon stood and walked slowly back to her class. Not surprisingly, there was no one in the hall. It was the same sterile, echoy, cement passage it had always been. It was dotted with the usual "character-building" posters and sunny yellow bulletin boards covered in pieces of paper. Shannon had stopped noticing them ages ago, just like they'd stopped noticing her.

"I'm going crazy," She said simply, shrugging. "That's all, I'm just going insane. Nothing serious," She approached the door just in time for it to burst open, releasing a river of giggling, talking, smiling students in a mad rush to get to their lockers. Shannon stood against the wall as usual, where she was less likely to be trampled. When the doorway was clear she walked inside, sat in a desk in the back corner, and stared at the floor. The teacher didn't look up. Instead, she grabbed her lunch sack and left the room. Shannon hadn't looked up either. She continued to stare at the floor. It was just another day.

Harry held the locket in his hand, turning it over and over. If he still had it, could it mean…?

"Ron, I've-" Harry began.

"Mr. Potter," Professor Trelawny said, eyeing him coolly- a warning look.

"But-" Harry tried.

"Now is not the time," she answered, in the same cryptic tone she'd spoken in when he'd entered the room. Harry got the distinct impression she didn't mean he should stop talking and pay attention, as most teachers would. No, she meant something else, something about Shannon…and the necklace.


	3. Questions

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Chapter 3

Shannon swung her back door open and stepped into the soft white entryway. It was a dreary walk home, the cold wind blowing around the august leaves, the gray sky threatening to open and let the rain fall.

"Mom, I'm home," Shannon called half-heartedly. She didn't really expect her mother to answer. Shannon stopped momentarily to take off her jacket before she headed up the stairs to her room. At the foot of the stairs she paused again when she heard her mother step into the living room doorway. The expression on her mother's face as she glanced at the backdoor was beyond her usual melancholy. No, now her eyes held a darkness, a grief that Shannon hadn't known existed. The look was fleeting however. Even as Shannon opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, her mother's expression cleared and she turned to go back to whatever it was she was doing. Shannon remained there a few minutes longer, staring at the now empty doorway, perplexed by the sadness in her mother's face. Then she shook her head and headed up to her room.

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Harry left Divination in a slightly better mood than when he had arrived. The rest of the day seemed brighter, as if the fog was thinning, becoming more of a mist, and mist is far easier to deal with than fog_._

He'd also carried the locket with him the rest of the day. Harry was almost afraid to let it go, afraid that if he did it would no longer exist, and if it no longer existed, she couldn't exist either. 

He sat at the dinner table with the locket in his fist, unaware of the silver chain dangling from it. With his other hand, he pushed the food around on his plate. It was a game he'd been playing for sometime now. It made him look as if he was eating, and kept Hermione from forcing one of her cups of sludge she called medicine down his throat. Tonight, however, some of the food had actually made it to his mouth.

Ron had been watching Harry, noticing the improvement of his mood, as well as his tightly clenched fist.

"What's that in you're hand Harry?" He finally asked.

"What?" Harry answered, thrown a bit by the question.

"That silver chain," Hermione added. "You've been carrying it around all day,"

"Oh, this" Harry drawled, looking at his fist and then quickly jamming the necklace in his robes. "Nothing…just a pocket watch. I bought it for Sirius and forgot to send it to him." He said, avoiding their eyes.

He wasn't quite sure why he lied. He just kept hearing what Professor Trelawney had told him in Divination. There was just something about her voice, the way it echoed in his mind. _Now is not the time…_

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Shannon sat on her bed, surrounded by a mountain of quilts and pillows. Hopelessly, she stared down at the empty notebook in front of her, trying to figure out how to start the poem her English teacher had assigned. Finally she sighed and stood up. She walked over to her old wooden vanity and, leaning against it, looked in the mirror. That's when she noticed it. It had practically become another extension of her body. Half the time she didn't even remember she wore it. But now, as she stared at her bare neck, there was no denying that the locket was gone.

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Harry sat at the long table, across from his friends. They had let the topic of the chain drop, accepting Harry's explanation with a shrug. Harry kept his eyes on his friends, nodding occasionally to make them think he was listening. His mind, however, was drifting to the conversation he'd overheard that morning.

He'd been on his way back from the boy's room; about to enter the room where his friends were waiting, when he heard his name mentioned. Without really knowing why, he stopped just outside the door, listening.

"We really need to do something," Hermione was saying.

"Yea," Ron agreed. "I'll talk to him about it. Maybe I can make him realize she's just a dream."

"It's worth a try, I suppose," Hermione replied. "But I'm afraid he's already too far gone. I've read about this kind of mental illness. Pretty soon he'll start associating real objects with her,"

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"Well, lets use a ring for an example. He could find this ring say…on the floor, and this illness might make him believe its hers, helping to convince him that she's real." Hermione explained. "If you're talk doesn't work, or something like that happens, we're going to have to get him some help." There was a pause. "Professional help," Hermione tried again.

"Oh," Ron breathed, catching on. That's when Harry decided to go into the room.

He pulled himself back to the conversation his friends were having now, once again arguing about house-elves. Harry stayed silent, not wanting to be drawn into the debate. His hand closed around the necklace in his robes._ I'm not making her up,_ Harry thought. _I can't be. I didn't find the necklace; it was in my hand when I woke up. How could I dream about a necklace, and wake up with the exact thing in my hand?_

Again Harry surveyed his friends. They'd dropped their debate and from the way Hermione was smirking, it was obvious who had won.

"I'm gonna go up to bed," Harry said, rising. Hermione shot Ron a pointed look.

"Wait Harry!" Ron quickly blurted. "Hermione and I were going to visit Hagrid after dinner,"

"He's got some new monster he wants to show us," Hermione added.

"Something with really sharp teeth no doubt," Ron laughed.

Harry smiled slightly, "Sorry, but I think I'd like to get some extra rest tonight,"

"That's not why you're going," Hermione mumbled. Harry said nothing, but stood there trying to look confused in order to cover up the betrayal he felt, after all, his best friends thought he was insane.

"We're not stupid Harry. We know you only want to go to you're room and see you're dream girl." Ron explained. Harry opened his mouth to reply, but Ron wouldn't let him. "No Harry, no more excuses. You can't keep sleeping you're life away like this. She's not that important! Damn it Harry, she's not even real!"

"She's real to me Ron," Harry replied in a cool voice. He wanted to show him the necklace, to prove he wasn't crazy, but Professor Trelawney caught his eye. She was facing Professor Sprout, and shaking her head as if in reply to something the teacher had said, but her eyes were on Harry. _Pretty soon he'll start associating real objects with her…_ he heard Hermione's voice explaining. They'd never believe the necklace was hers.

"Then tell me her name," Ron questioned quietly. 

Harry's face went blank. Up until this point, that little detail had never even occurred to him. He knew everything about her! How could he not know her name? He didn't know what to say. He just stood there, staring at his friend.

"You can't even do that, can you?" Ron said, in the same quiet voice. Harry began to back away. "Doesn't that tell you something Harry?"

Harry shook his head and fled from the Great Hall, fled from all the doubts it held. _She isn't just a dream. She's real…isn't she?_

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Shannon stood frozen, staring into the mirror. She couldn't lose that necklace. It was the only thing she had left from the part of her life when she'd been noticed, been loved. Her hand fluttered to rest at the base of her throat. Then a strange thing happened. The surface of the mirror seemed to shimmer slightly. There was something peculiar about her image now. She wasn't just staring at herself anymore. No, now she was staring at him. 

When Harry reached his room, he stopped in front of the mirror, not really looking at his reflection-that was something he hadn't done in ages. Now he stood, dangling the necklace from his hand, twirling the locket in circles. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a strange flicker, and then a movement that didn't quite mirror his own.

Shannon curiously observed the phenomenon. Her reflection was still there, but it was a sort of double image for there was also his, transparent and gray. He didn't seem to notice her. Instead, he focused on the twirling object suspended from his hand. She looked down at it and remembered. _He_ had her necklace.

Harry looked up and found her in the mirror, her image hanging over his like a thin fog. He smiled at the sight of that face, those eyes. But her eyes were not focused on him. They were, instead, focused on the locket dancing on its silver chain. She stretched a hand toward it slowly, and just as it seemed she would reach through the glass, the mirror flickered and she was gone.

Shannon stood there, her heart racing as she saw his image fade. She put both hands on the vanity table, bracing herself against the sudden dizziness. Only one thought ran through her mind. _I have to get that necklace back._

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Harry stood in front of the now normal mirror. Either this really was her necklace, or he'd gone certifiably insane. He sat down on his bed and opened the locket. Staring back at him were the two faces, young and old. Though Shannon looked much different now, she still had those same enchanting eyes. Her mother's eyes, he noticed. He sat there for a while, drinking in the necklace, commiting it to memory, turning it over and over in his hands. Then he noticed something he hadn't noticed before, and he smiled.

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Authors Note: And thus ends Chapter 3. Sorry, this was a bit of a long chapter, for me anyway. As always, you're comments are appreciated. Tune in next time, the discovery continues in Chapter 4…


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